When it comes to privacy, kids aren’t fond of making any compromises. However, you as a parent cannot give them any sort of concession in this regard because doing so would do them more harm than good. Granting them complete online privacy may make you an ideal parent in their eyes, but you need to keep in mind that this love is likely to come at a great cost. In case you’re wondering about the potential dangers of giving your kids unsupervised access to the web, we’ve explained three of the biggest threats to help you make an informed and smart parenting decision.

The plague of cyberbullying

As the presence of youngsters continue to grow online, so does the prevalence of cyberbullying. Often unaware of the psychological impact of their words and actions, which mostly comprise of insults and threats, aggressive and bigoted online users hunt on easy targets, pushing them into the depths of insecurity, depression, self-doubt, and fear. While the perpetrators see their attacks as nothing more than online domination, those on the receiving end find themselves dying a slow and painful death.

If parents are not supervising their kids’ online communications, it can be pretty hard for them to tell if their youngster is attacking or being attacked by someone online. Cyberbullying is allowed to run rampant in such a situation and victims are left helpless. In some cases, parents came to realize their mistake only after it was too late, i.e. their cyberbullied child committed suicide.

The relentless threat of predators

Another major issue with giving kids unsupervised access to the web is that it leaves them completely at the mercy of online predators. The latter are generally older, cunning, and extremely dangerous. They deploy social engineering and other tactics to ensnare young and gullible victims, convince them to engage in provocative conversations or share risqué photos and videos, and then use all this to blackmail them into either committing more inappropriate acts, ask for ransom from their parents, or sell them to a buyer for money.

Without supervising their kids’ online activities, parents remain completely unaware of who their youngsters are talking to, what they’re talking about, and what kind of pictures and videos are being exchanged. If kids are being blackmailed by the predator, parents are unlikely to discover this because the fear of backlash discourages the victims from approaching an adult for help.

The glorification of rebellious lifestyle

The uninhibited nature of the web has provided promoters of rebellious lifestyle with an excellent platform to influence their audience on a massive scale. Risky adventures, drugs, sexual encounters, tattoos, and other wild traits are glorified through articles, pictures, memes, and videos, especially on social media channels. While experimenting with new things and discovering things through experience is part of growing up, a lot of these rebellious lifestyle experiences are dangerous in nature, posing a grave risk to the well-being and even the future of those giving in to the influence.

Failure to keep a check on kids’ online activities can result in them ending up on the wrong side of the internet and developing a fascination for a lifestyle that may look exciting at a young age, but is in actual nothing more than a route to self-destruction.